Tell me what you love and hate about oak park (Chicago: appointed, apartment)

[Alsgirl2002]

I am moving back to IL from DC and strongly considering Oak Park for our new town despite the high taxes due to proximity and drive times to the city. Tell me what you love and hate about to town to help my decision making.

[sfcambridge]

hmmmm..... let's see

Love? That's kind of a strong word. I like...

Convenience to city. Driving, blue line, green line, Metra.

Accepting community, pretty diverse economically/politically/architecturally/culturally etc..

A decent mix of families, singles, retirees.

Some pretty good restaurants (favorites for me include a Sen Sushi, and Marion Street Cheese Market - both with recent Michelin awards), as well as many casual eaters. A little of everything if you want to stay local rather then going to the city.

Many bars in nearby Forest Park on Madison, and even a few restaurants with bars in Oak Park.

A nice amount of cultural things right there/close.... a movie theater, 3 theaters to see plays (Madison St., Open Door, 16th St. Theater), great libraries, live music at several small cafes/bars and nearby Fitzgerald's, classical music series at Unity Temple and Church of Beethoven at Open Door and even a small Opera "company" and Oak Park River Forest Civic Symphony. Nearby Concordia and Dominican Universities also offer cultural offerings.. theater, music, visiting lectures etc..

Several parks, gyms and nearby Thatcher woods.

Good food shopping - several Jewels, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and now a couple Costcos close by.

Bikeable, walkable.

Quiet at night. Safe.

A little more affordable, compared with areas in city I would live as an alternative.



Hate? That's kind of a strong word. Probably don't hate many things, but the unpleasant things...

Parking, if you rent/live in an apartment. There isn't enough, you aren't allowed to park your car on the street overnight without a village permit for that area, and only in special places. Inconvenient, and problematic when you have guests. So always ask about private parking options that you can rent. But I most admit... it is still more convenient then many city neighborhoods.

It's still more suburban then I would like, but I do admit there are some conveniences about living in this urban suburb. See above.

Poor coverage by the bus system (ie. buses don't run frequently).

[chitownperson]

sfcambrige has touched on many points, and I would agree with his assessment.

Personally, some of the main reasons I moved here with my family (my likes I suppose) was for the diversity, proximity to the city, good schools and the more liberal lean of the general politics. I find that this a common theme with a lot of people I meet around the village. Since living here, I've found a strong sense of community which I appreciate.

Different parts of the village have their own character. I live in an area with lots of single family homes, so there's a "slightly" more quite suburban feel... though the huge amount of kids on my block make up the majority of liveliness. There are some parts that have more apartment buildings which give those areas a slightly more urban feel, but a quite walk down a block or two and it's different again.

On diversity, as sfcambrige points out, it's not limited to race, which is what a lot of people mean when they talk about "diversity". What I appreciate about the diversity here is that it's highly integrated, which is different from a community that may have different ethnicities which are largely segregated from each other. To add to the list, there's also a large gay and lesbian population in the village, the largest outside of boystown in Chicago... many of which are families with children. I like that there are large amounts of people that are different, also mixed race families (like mine), integrated. We have people on our block from many denominations, same sex couples with kids, a range of ethnicities, stay at home dads, non traditional families etc... and it works as a community.

Another thing I like is that it's a great place for families. There are a huge range of park district activities, a large variety of arts, dance, theater music and language classes. classes and activities within various religious institutions. It's safe, with a tone of great parks servicing every area of the village. With this brutal winter, we've really made use of various indoor activities in village and in near by communities including Wonderworks, My Gym, Monkey Island etc...

The walkability of the village is a huge positive factor for me. It's is sometimes thought of by some that you have to be close to the center of the village to be able to access amenities, but the village has pockets of activities, eateries and amenities in different pockets of the town, making many parts of the village very walkable. I like that I can limit my use of a car to groceries etc... but have the option to walk to friends homes and near by amenities. Also, the various modes of transportation, train etc... offer a good diversity of options for commuters.

I like that there is a highly educated population with a lot of academics and people who care about things like education, not only in terms of book learning (which is also important), but how they are socially educated. I feel it is important for my own to experience people from different backgrounds, economic situations, ethnicities etc... to go to school with a lot of people that are different from them, so they are not isolated within a bubble. Plus the schools are great, and offer a lot of opportunities for students.

Of course, My family and I enjoy the other things sfcambridge mentions, like the cinema, eateries, various grocers, Thatcher woods, award winning library, the great downtown etc... And I like that I can get to all of this stuff very quickly.

I too find "hate" a strong word. I haven't found anything I "hate", but again, as it has been mentioned, the parking can be tricky if you're in an apartment without dedicated parking or permit areas. People find ways around this by renting from people that have extra parking, and also making use of parking garages with annual rates. I believe the over night permits of guests has just been extended to more permits per month which is a good thing.

As far as your concerns with the taxes, yes they can be high depending on where you live and what you're judging it against. I feel comfortable with the taxes because a large portion of them goes towards the schools, which in turn helps to keep the values of the homes steady. On top of that, you get a lot of services like park and village programs, an excellent police force etc... I figure them into the cost of the house as oppose to it being separate, so for me it's worth it.

The buses are mostly used during commuter hours, so they've more frequent during those times, but a quick look at the schedule during regular hours will bypass the need to stand waiting for it.

The suburb meets urban feel of the village is the right balance for me. I like the density of it, which I feel really helps the community feel of the place as you're literally closer to people, yet it still has the charm and pleasant quality of the suburbs. The huge mixture of architecture is also a huge plus for me as it adds to the character of the area.

Like any place, I find it's the mixture of things that makes it right for a person or family, not any individual characteristic or amenity.

[pete6032]

Pretentious oak park hipsters.

[chitownperson]

I rarely see any "hipsters" in Oak Park. They tend to hang around wicker park, buck town. Most I see are families with kids and young professionals.

[chet everett]

I agree that hipsters are uncommon in Oak Park. As to the adjective that pete6032 choose that would describe what I most dislike about the town -- a certain kind of smugness about some alleged kind of specialness. Believe me any decisions about such things was made by folks many decades ago in an era when the poltical dynamics of these region were far different than they are today. Anyone that still clings to such beliefs at this point in time is really doing more to harm the furthenrance of equality...

I do love the lovely homes, the relative convenience of easy commute to the Loop via multiple transit options and the pleasant layout of some parts of town. Even with those positives the high taxes and relative similarity to far less desirable areas with much worse schools really highlights the main driver in maintaining values for Oak Park and the troubling management of the schools that has seen well over a hundred million dollars of tax payer funds "stockpiled" with no clear explanation is quite troubling.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by chet everett

...and relative similarity to far less desirable areas with much worse schools really highlights the main driver in maintaining values for Oak Park and the troubling management of the schools that has seen well over a hundred million dollars of tax payer funds "stockpiled" with no clear explanation is quite troubling.

I agree that the quality of schools has to be maintained for Oak Park to remain desirable, but I wouldn't necessarily call it the "main driver" of maintaining values (though it is certainly a vital one). And I wouldn't agree that Oak Park is really that similar to surrounding suburbs with poor schools, like Berwyn or Maywood. In addition to being the closest suburb to the Loop with multiple transportation links to various parts of the Loop and the CTA system, Oak Park has a certain vibe or cachet that is attractive to many. Part of that cachet may be pure legend at this point, and at some point the "buzz" around Oak Park's brand becomes a self-sustaining fountainhead of new young liberal families. When you talk to many young people, Evanston and Oak Park are the only suburbs they would consider.

[Alsgirl2002]

Thanks for the input everyone, this is quite helpful. If we move there, we will add some conservative spice to the mostly liberal fabric. ;-)

I do find Chet's comment about the school stockpiling money of interest, especially with the crazy taxes.

I think the reason why many young families look to evanston and oak park are the proximity to jobs and urban-ish environment. The access to transit really ups the anti, especially as younger generations are less car-centric than older generations.

[chet everett]

I can certainly see how some of the things that LK mentions are a factor -- folks that don't dig terribly deeply into the real similarities / differences of the various options that include finding a decent spot inside Chicago to start a family vs heading to a suburb has been "a thing" since probably longer back than any of us here can relate to -- while certainly the "boom" following WWII is a big factor that does not completely address the history of how / why towns that border Chicago were effective in maintaining their independence while some areas that could have been separate towns were swallowed up by Chicago.

There is no shortage of options for folks that wish to have a pleasant family untethered to a minivan in a wide range of neighborhoods inside Chicago as well as a suprisingly large number of suburbs that stretch out along the spokes of our very used Metra commuter rail system.

I do agree that each town in the region, as well as many city neighborhoods, do have some reputation of unique character. That said the degree to which these things are true vs something closer to stereotype / myth is open for debate. It is worth noting that certain kinds of people do tend to "buy in" the prevailing assumptions of places and it is often helpful in such cases to track the degree to which such folks subsequently become disappointed with reality failing to match the myth...

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by Alsgirl2002

Thanks for the input everyone, this is quite helpful. If we move there, we will add some conservative spice to the mostly liberal fabric. ;-)

I do find Chet's comment about the school stockpiling money of interest, especially with the crazy taxes.

I think the reason why many young families look to evanston and oak park are the proximity to jobs and urban-ish environment. The access to transit really ups the anti, especially as younger generations are less car-centric than older generations.

FYI, the high school district (District 200) actually voted to decrease their tax levy this year which is unprecedented. This is due to the election of a new school board which recognizes that the stockpiled surplus is excessively high ($110+ million, equivalent to 2 years operating budget). The stated long-term goal is to decrease the surplus to about 6 months of the operating budget.